1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to semiconductor modules, including modules that can minimize damage of the resin around a bending part of a terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-345669 (also referred to herein as “Patent Document 1”) discloses a structure of a semiconductor module that can avoid damage of the resin around a bending part of the terminal. Patent Document 1 discloses a mold body including a part of an electrically connecting conductor made of a conductive metallic material constructed by insert-molding or press-fitting. This mold body has a jig-inserting groove in the basic part for a bending jig to expose the electrically connecting conductor to a side wall surface. In order to bend the electrically connecting conductor to a desired direction, a bending jig that fits to the bending position of the electrically connecting conductor is inserted into the jig-inserting groove in the mold body constructed as described above, and then, the electrically connecting conductor is bent. The document asserts that no crack is generated in the bending jig or in the basic part even through the bending jig is subjected to a bending stress when the electrically connecting conductor is bent because the bending jig is made of a sufficiently rigid material with respect to the basic part. The document also describes that the bending jig is drawn out of the jig-inserting groove after bending the electrically connecting conductor, and is used repeatedly, for vending an electrically connecting conductor of the next mold body.
The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that an additional handling process is needed for putting and removing the bending jig, which decreases the manufacturing rate raising the manufacturing cost. As in the description on a conventional technology that is referred to in Patent Document 1, the process of bending the terminal along the edge of the resin could generates a crack in the resin part, which also raises the manufacturing cost.